“Ahhhhh” Ralf howled, as thick black lines started to appear over his face, they were like tiger patterns. The vicissitudes of old age on his face started to disappear as his body grew larger, and his soul stone started to glow with even more intensity.

The Sword hurling towards the human started to shrink, all the while becoming more visible, turning from transparent to light blue.

“Roaaar” Ralf let out a thundering roar, as his body finally stopped growing. This was his final incarnation, a mighty tiger beast with the gift of wind, and although he was only in the incarnation stage, the transformation intensified his soul strength.

“Oh, this guy’s getting stronger” Hope’s facial expression became one of worry, as she felt the ripples of strength emanating from Ralf intensify. “Put your helmet back on Koren, and if I tell you to back off, do it immediately, we don’t want you getting hurt.”

Koren smiled as the liquid metal started to creep up and solidified into the helmet.

The Sword ripped through the air and reached Koren’s chest in the time it takes to blink. The sword, which had shrunk down to the size of a regular blade clashed with the Armor but failed to pierce through.

“Hou!!” Ralf Howled as the soul stone on his forehead flashed with a dark blue light. Although the light only flashed for a single second, for that second, Ralf’s power almost tripled.

When the sword clashed with the Armor, Koren only felt a light prickle. However, when the Raavi started to howl, there was a change in the sword as well. In but a second it went from a regular long sword to the size of a tiny needle and hit Koren like a boulder.

“Koren!!, Get back” Hope shouted as soon as the change occurred, but it was too late. The sword stopped glowing and faded as the Raavi took back his mental power after failing pierce the Armor. The resulting change in air pressure threw Koren back, flipping through the sky in a haggled manner.

Koren felt his joints shake, his whole body felt hammered, and for a moment, he lost consciousness. The Guardian Armor took 99 percent of the damage, the remaining 1 percent was enough to make Koren see the edge of life and death. The Armor automatically adjusted itself and fired the repulsors to stop Koren from falling, then it started to assess the damage.

…multiple contusions detected…Healing function activated…

“Silly Koren, I told you to back off.” Hope grunted as the Armor activated the healing function, and a warm feeling started to encompass Koren’s body. “Ahhh, look at you now. You should have activated the force field.”

“Big sis, ah, did you get the data we needed.” Koren took back control of the flight system and shook his head to shake of the dizzy feeling he was getting. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Ralf was breathing heavily, he put everything he had in that attack. His body rapidly started to shrink back to its original size, however it didn’t stop there, his white hair started to fall off, and his dark pupils started to become hazy grey. His proud figure was now looking wane, and decrepit. He raised his head to see the human still floating in front of him, although Ralf could only see a blur with his eyes, he could still assess that he did indeed do significant damage.

This confirmed that the Armor was not a path artefact, at most it should be like the Armor of the Draconian Prince. However, this didn’t mean he had the means to destroy this Armor. Perhaps to defeat this individual, he would need the Arvos Crown, the soul artefact of the Arvos Clan. Soul Artefacts have only one function, amplify the soul power of its user, like the staff used by Lisandra.

Ralf felt like his head would split, he slowly started to drift away from the human warrior who had at this point stabilized himself and was looking right at him.

“I will keep my word.” Koren shouted out just as a Panicky look appeared on the Raavi’s crumbling face. “Go!!”

Ralf didn’t need to be told twice, he immediately turned around and flew towards the city at full speed, he even forgot the state of his own body, and the prickling pain in his soul stone.

As Ralf bolted into the distance, Koren’s helmet came off. His face hair was soaked with sweat, and his face was pale, but as the healing function was active inside his body, his tan color was slowly beginning to show again.

Koren turned to look toward the sand ship, everyone was still passed out, and Sappa was beginning to look better as well, as the metal butterflies slowly released a green light over him.

“We should wake them up Sis, any ideas.” Koren asked as he floated towards the ship and landed on the roughed up top deck. “Perhaps a sonic blast.”

“A light setting should do the job.” Hope replied. “No need to blast their eardrums”

Koren’s pupils turned gold for a second as the display activated, he then scrolled through the Armor Utilities and picked a sonic blaster. As soon as he activated the sonic device, slight vibrations emanated out from his Armor, barely noticeable.

Haruki was the first to open his eyes, he quickly looked around as soon as he woke up, looking for Sappa. He didn’t have to look far as Sappa had collapsed right next to him. Sappa was laying down with his behind humped like a desert camel and face next to the rough floor, snot coming from his nose and goo from his open mouth.

Haruki was glad Sappa was fine, but then he remembered the Raavi and the monster they had encountered, as he rapidly turned his head around to spot them.

However, what he was greeted with was a whole ship filled with snoring women and kids, and an Armored stranger that looked vaguely familiar.

Haruki looked at the stranger and blinked. He tried to open his mouth but found that he lacked the energy to do so. There was a sour taste in his mouth, like he had drunk a one of Sappa’s healthy drinks. Nasty concoctions, their mere memory gave Haruki the chills.

To Haruki’s surprise, the Armored stranger started to walk towards him, resting right next to him.

“Drink, it’ll make you feel better.” The stranger then brought out an animal skin bag full of water and held it close to Haruki’s mouth.

Haruki didn’t hesitate and gulped the water down with a vengeance. By this time Enri who was not too far off from Haruki also opened her eyes, however she was far more energetic than Haruki and was easily able to stand up straight after waking up. She looked at the Armored stranger kneeling next to Haruki and shouted. “Brother Haruki, what happened.”

“It’s ok Enri, I think we are safe.” Haruki replied, as he too noticed the flustered Enri, he then looked at the stranger and asked multiple questions in one breath. “Do you know Koren, did he ask you to help us, is he safe”

Koren smiled, he felt touched that Brother Haruki would think of his safety after everything he had been through. “Yes, he did, and he is doing fine, so there’s no need to worry.”

Enri slowly walked forward, almost stumbling. “What about the Chief, and the rest of shale village.” Enri asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. “Are they safe, please tell me they are safe.”

“Yes, they are all safe.” Koren turned to face Enri, she was in better condition than Haruki, but her mental state was not so good. “Right now, it’s all of you I’m concerned about.”

Koren placed the animal skin bag in Haruki’s hand and got up on his feet. He then walked toward the keel stone to examine it.

“Brothe…Ahem, Umm… Everyone will be waking up now, I need you to help them and keep them calm. I will check to see the damage on the ship.” Koren embarrassedly mumbled, as his figure swiftly disappeared, leaving the two children to themselves.

“Hehe, nice exit Koren. Your face is as red as an Apple.” Hope couldn’t help rattle Koren’s jumpy behaviour. “Once we have time, I’m going to teach you how to keep a poker face.”

Koren brushed off Hopes quip, and quickly made his way towards the keel stone, as soon as he saw its condition his face fell. “This ship won’t ever sail on the sand again.” He silently grumbled.

Koren’s father ‘Ken Geist’, owned and operated his own small sand ship. He knew everything there was to know about how they worked, and he didn’t hesitate to teach his only son. Although Koren’s knowledge in this department was lacking, but he understood enough to know how difficult it is to repair a keel stone, which is the core of a sand ship.

Koren turned around to see the villagers who were waking up one after another, Enri and Haruki were running around helping everyone. “How am I going to get them out of here without a ship.” Koren squinted his brows, as his facial muscles twitched.

“I have an idea.” Hope appeared in front of Koren, a mischievous grin plastered across her face. “Hehe, but it may just scare the kids.”

Koren smiled, followed by a sigh. “What’s the plan Big Sis?”

And with that, he surrendered to the snickering Hope.